What answering services actually publish as their prices
Each provider's own published number, with the source link, what the plan covers, and the per-minute arithmetic shown — every figure read directly from the provider's pricing page on August 5, 2026. No averages, no estimates, no "industry typical."
What do live answering services publish as their prices?
As of August 5, 2026, from their own pricing pages: Ruby publishes $250/month for 50 receptionist minutes ($5.00/minute, shown by division) up to $1,725 for 500. PATLive publishes $75/month pay-as-you-go at $2.60/minute, and $250/month for 75 minutes with $2.35/minute overage. Smith.ai publishes $300/month for 30 receptionist calls — $10.00 per call. Source links below; none of these is what you'll ultimately pay, and the reasons are itemized further down.
| Provider | Published price | What it covers | The division, shown | Their page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | $250/mo (Starter) to $1,725/mo | 50 receptionist minutes, up to 500 on the top tier | $250 ÷ 50 min = $5.00/min; $1,725 ÷ 500 = $3.45/min | ruby.com/plans-and-pricing |
| PATLive | $75/mo (pay-as-you-go) to $1,170/mo | Basic has no included minutes at $2.60/min; Starter $250/mo covers 75 min with $2.35/min overage; Pro $1,170/mo covers 600 min | Starter: $250 ÷ 75 min = $3.33/min before overage | patlive.com/pricing |
| Smith.ai (human receptionists) | $300/mo (Starter) to $2,100/mo | 30 calls, up to 300 on Pro; overage $11.50/call on Starter | $300 ÷ 30 calls = $10.00/call | smith.ai/pricing/receptionists |
Two things to notice before comparing. First, the unit differs — Ruby and PATLive meter in minutes, Smith.ai meters in calls — so the columns only become comparable after you know your own call volume and average call length. Second, every one of these is the entry shape: overage rates, after-hours behavior, and what counts as a billable minute are where the real bill gets made, which is the subject of the second half of this page.
What do AI answering services publish as their prices?
As of August 5, 2026, from their own pricing pages: Rosie publishes $49/month for 250 minutes (about $0.20/minute). Smith.ai's AI line publishes a free 25-call tier, then $150/month at about $2.00/call. Sameday publishes "starts at $449/month" for 500 minutes (about $0.90/minute). The AI category meters the same way the human one does — the per-unit price is lower, and the fine print is the same kind of fine print.
| Provider | Published price | What it covers | The division, shown | Their page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosie | $49/mo to $299/mo | 250 minutes on Professional; 1,000 on Scale; 2,000 on Growth | $49 ÷ 250 min ≈ $0.20/min | heyrosie.com/pricing |
| Smith.ai (AI receptionist) | $0/mo (25 calls) to $500/mo | Free tier covers 25 calls then $3.00/call; Pro $150/mo at ~$2.00/call; Enterprise $500/mo at ~$1.67/call | Their own stated rate: $2.00/call on Pro | smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist |
| Sameday AI | “Starts at” $449/mo to $789/mo+ | 500 minutes on Launch; 1,000 on Scale; Enterprise is custom | $449 ÷ 500 min ≈ $0.90/min | gosameday.com/pricing |
Worth saying plainly: the spread inside the AI category is wider than the spread between categories. Rosie's entry plan and Sameday's entry plan differ by 9× — $49 against $449 — because they are priced for different buyers. Sameday's own positioning is multi-truck operations on field-service platforms; Rosie's is any small business. Which one a one-person shop should even be quoted by is half the decision.
Which providers publish no price at all?
Several of the biggest names publish no usable number: Avoca's pricing is quote-based with no public price list. AnswerConnect's and AnswerForce's figures vary by configuration and weren't stated as a simple public plan card when we checked. VoiceNation is mid-consolidation into Moneypenny, so its plan structure is in transition. And Rivet doesn't publish its number either — one flat monthly price for the shop, told on a short call. The absence of a published price is itself information: it usually means the price depends on a sales conversation.
We list ourselves in that group on purpose. Rivet is one flat monthly price with no per-minute or per-call meter, and we tell you the figure on a short call rather than printing it — the pricing page explains the model. So the claim this page makes is not “our number is public and theirs isn't.” It is narrower and checkable: every number above is real, sourced, and dated — and the shape of the bill differs. A meter scales with your busiest month; a flat price doesn't.
For the named comparisons, we've written the honest head-to-heads: Rivet vs. Ruby, Rivet vs. VoiceNation, and Rivet vs. Avoca — each including when the other choice is the better one.
Why is the published number never what you pay?
Four mechanisms, all structural: overage rates kick in above the included allotment, and busy months are exactly when you exceed it. Per-minute billing rounds and runs on every call, including wrong numbers and robocalls. After-hours and holiday coverage can carry premiums or plan-tier requirements. And per-call pricing treats a 30-second robocall and a 12-minute emergency intake as the same unit. None of this is dishonesty — human operator time really does cost money — but it means the plan-card number is the floor, not the forecast.
The honest way to forecast a real bill: pull last month's call log, count calls and total minutes, then apply the rates quoted to you — including the overage rate, which is the number that actually governs a seasonal trade's August. We walk that exercise, with the arithmetic written out, in what an answering service actually costs a contractor. The other side of the same ledger — what the calls you currently miss are worth — is the missed-call cost calculator, where every input is your own.
Common questions
How current are the prices on this page?
Every figure was read directly from the provider's own pricing page on August 5, 2026, and each row links to that page. We re-verify quarterly. If a linked page shows a different number than this table, their page wins — prices move, and the source link is there precisely so you can check us.
Why do you show the per-minute division instead of just the plan price?
Because plans hide the unit. $250 for 50 minutes and $250 for 75 minutes look identical on a plan card and differ by 50% per minute. Showing the division ($250 ÷ 50 = $5.00/min) keeps the arithmetic checkable and makes plans with different allotments comparable.
What does Rivet cost compared to these?
Rivet is one flat monthly price for the whole shop — no per-minute or per-call meter, no per-truck fees — and we give the exact figure on a short call. We won't print a comparison we can't source both sides of; get their quote and ours and put them side by side for your call volume.
Why isn't AnswerConnect or AnswerForce in the table?
The table only carries figures we could read on a provider's own public pricing page on the observation date, stated as a simple plan card. Providers whose pricing is quote-shaped or in transition are listed in the no-published-price section instead — printing a secondhand number would defeat the point of the page.
A flat price, and the phone answered
Rivet answers, books the job, and drafts the invoice — nothing sends without your yes. One monthly price, told on a short call.